Stories of Ravana from scriptures

In this thread, I will post stories related to the character Ravan from scriptures.
Source:-
1. Valmiki Ramayana by poet Valmiki
2. Adhyatma Ramayana, a part of Brahmanda Purana by sage Veda Vyasa
3. Tulsidas Ramacharitmanas by Goswami Tulsidas
4. Srimad Bhagavat Mahapuran by Veda Vyasa

There are some other sources also but mostly I will post based on above four.

Ravan and Kumbhkarn were Lord Visnu's doorkeepers
In a previous birth Ravan and Kumbhkarn were Visnu's doorkeepers. They had to come to Earth because of a curse by Kumar brothers.
The Kumar brothers are Sanak Kumar, Sanandan Kumar, Sanatan Kumar, and Sanat Kumar. They were mind born sons of Brahma. Even in their advanced age, they looked very young because of their spiritual powers. They had no attachment to any material possessions. Using their spiritual powers, they freely moved around the universe.

One day they went to Vaikunth to meet Lord Visnu. They were stopped by Jay and Vijay (the doorkeepers of Visnu). Jay and Vijay thought the Kumar brothers to be children and made fun of them.

Kumar brothers did not like that the doorkeepers of Lord could behave like this. They got angry and cursed Jay and Vijay that they two would be born on planet Earth.

Visnu came there. On seeing Him, Kumar brothers forgot all anger. They worshipped Visnu and, after some time, left.

Visnu told Jay and Vijay that He was capable of overruling the curse but He did not want to do so. When Jay and Vijay pleaded that they could not live being separate from their Lord, then Visnu said to them, "You will have to undergo three births. In all those three births you will be killed by me. At the end of three births, you will come to me."

If Lord Visnu personally kills somebody then that person is considered very fortunate.

The first birth of Jay and Vijay was as Hiranyaksh and Hiranyakashipu. Visnu took boar incarnation and killed Hiranyaksh; he took Nrisimha (half man, half lion) incarnation and killed Hiranyakashipu.

The second birth was as Ravan and Kumbhkarn. Lord Visnu took human incarnation as Ram and killed Ravan and Kumbhkarn.

The third birth was as Shishupal and Dantwakra. Lord Visnu came to Earth as Krishna and killed Shishupal and Dantwakra.

The birth of Ravan
The demons Malyavan, Mali and Sumali were brothers. Because of a boon from Lord Brahma they became very powerful. They terrorized gods. On their command, Vishwakarma(the architect of gods) built the beutiful city of Lanka. The gods went to Lord Visnu to seek help. After that in a fight between demons and gods, Visnu killed Mali with his sudarshan chakra(discus), Visnu killed Mali. Malyavan and Sumai ran away from there.
Now gods once again started ruling happily. Malyavan and Sumali lost their kingdom. Sumali was looking for a suitable groom for his daughter Kaikasi. One day he saw Kubel flying in his Pushpak Viman(aircraft). Kuber was sage Vishrava's son and was ruling over Lanka now. Vishrava was a highly respected, very learned sage and possessed great spiritual powers. Vishrawa thought that a son born of a demon lady and a great sage like Vishrawa will be very powerful. He asked Kaikasi to go to Vishrava and marry him.
Kaikasi went to Vishrava. When Vishrava asked her the cause of her arrival, then she introduced herself by saying that her name was Kaikasi and she had come there on the command of her father Sumali. After that she said, "The rest you should know from your own spiritual insight." Vishrava understood everything.
In due course of time, Vishrava and Kaikasi gave birth to three sons and one daughter. The sons were Ravan, Kumbhkarn and Vibhishan. The daughter was Chandranakha(meaning nails like moon). When Chandranakha grew up, then she was called as Surpnakha(meaning nails like winnowing fans). Out of the four children, Ravan was the eldest, after that Kubhkarn, then Chandranakha, and the youngest was Vibhishan. At birth, Ravan was not named Ravan. He was called by names Dashanan(meaning ten heads) and Dashgriva(meaning ten necks). When he was born, he had ten heads, and twenty hands. The name Ravan was given to him much later.

Let me know if you want me to explain anything from the stories posted so far.

Intresting story. thx for sharing.

very goood story. keep posting.

WOW. This is very awesome! Thanks for your explanations.

Ravan, Kumbhkarn, and Vibhishan get boons from Brahma
Ravan's father Vishrava was a scholar. From him Ravan Got the knowledge of Vedas and many other kinds of knowledge. Vishrava wanted Ravan to live in peace with everyone. But Kaikasi was always provoking Ravan against Kuber.
Kuber was Ravan's step brother. But he loved Ravan, Kumbhkarn, Vibhishan and Chandranakha a lot.
One day Kuber came in his Pushpak viman(aircraft) to meet his father Vishrava. Kaikasi pointed the aircraft to Ravan and said, "Look what your step-brother Kuber has achieved. He has made his mother proud. But you have not done anything. I am ashamed of you."
Ravan promised his mother that he would excel Kuber. He decided to worship Lord Brahma. Kumbhkarn and Vibhishan also worshipped Brahma. The three brothers did very severe penance(tapasya). Ravan, one-by-one cut off his heads and offered them as an offering to Brahma. He cut nine of his heads. When he was about to cut his tenth and last head, then Brahma came and stopped him. Brahma restored all his heads and asked Ravan what he wanted.
Ravan asked for immortality. Brahma said, "I cannot give that to you." Ask for something else. Then Ravan said, "I should not be killed by gods, demons, gandharvas, yakshas, wild beasts. Give me supremacy over them." Ravan did not mention humans in his boon because he thought no human could ever kill him. He considered it against his self-respect to ask Brahma that he should not be killed by humans. Brahma granted him whatever boon he asked.

Brahma asked Vibhishan to seek a boon. Vibhishan said, "Even in great danger, may I never swerve from the path of righteousness. May I be illumined with the light of divine knowledge."
Brahma granted Vibhishan this boon and said, "Your mind is never inclined towards doing any bad deeds. Therefore, I grant you immortality."
As we can see, Brahma did not grant immortality to Ravan though Ravan asked for it. But he granted immortality to Vibhishan though Vibhishan did not ask for it. The reason is that Brahma knew it was not proper to give immortality to Ravan.
Next it was Kumbhkarn's turn to ask for a boon. Kumbhkarn was huge in size and had tremendous strength. He had the habit of killing humans and animals and eating them. The gods got afraid. They thought, "Kumbhkarn is already so powerful. He will be a great danger if he gets any more power from Lord Brahma." They requested Saraswati(goddess of speech) to do something. Saraswati casted an illusion on Kumbhkarn's mind so that he asked for lots of sleep. Brahma granted that. After that Kumbhkarn realized his mistake. But, it was too late now.
Ravan got a mansion built for Kumbhkarn so that Kumbhkarn could sleep there.

Originally posted by: akhl

Ravan and Kumbhkarn were Lord Visnu's doorkeepers
In a previous birth Ravan and Kumbhkarn were Visnu's doorkeepers. They had to come to Earth because of a curse by Kumar brothers.
The Kumar brothers are Sanak Kumar, Sanandan Kumar, Sanatan Kumar, and Sanat Kumar. They were mind born sons of Brahma. Even in their advanced age, they looked very young because of their spiritual powers. They had no attachment to any material possessions. Using their spiritual powers, they freely moved around the universe.

One day they went to Vaikunth to meet Lord Visnu. They were stopped by Jay and Vijay (the doorkeepers of Visnu). Jay and Vijay thought the Kumar brothers to be children and made fun of them.

Kumar brothers did not like that the doorkeepers of Lord could behave like this. They got angry and cursed Jay and Vijay that they two would be born on planet Earth.

Visnu came there. On seeing Him, Kumar brothers forgot all anger. They worshipped Visnu and, after some time, left.

Visnu told Jay and Vijay that He was capable of overruling the curse but He did not want to do so. When Jay and Vijay pleaded that they could not live being separate from their Lord, then Visnu said to them, "You will have to undergo three births. In all those three births you will be killed by me. At the end of three births, you will come to me."

If Lord Visnu personally kills somebody then that person is considered very fortunate.

The first birth of Jay and Vijay was as Hiranyaksh and Hiranyakashipu. Visnu took boar incarnation and killed Hiranyaksh; he took Nrisimha (half man, half lion) incarnation and killed Hiranyakashipu.

The second birth was as Ravan and Kumbhkarn. Lord Visnu took human incarnation as Ram and killed Ravan and Kumbhkarn.

The third birth was as Shishupal and Dantwakra. Lord Visnu came to Earth as Krishna and killed Shishupal and Dantwakra.

I do agree with you that Ravan, along with Kumbhkaran were essentially Vishnu's doorkeepers and that they had to come to earth due to a shraap...

but I do disagree with a few things too....

Firstly, part of the shrap was that Jay and Vijay had to be born on earth not once, but TEN TIMES...and after they were given the shrap...Lord Vishnu came over and said...

"In each one of your lives, you have to meet me before you die. Now, how do you want to meet me, as a friend or as a foe."

Jay and Vijay chose to meet Vishnu as a foe, because to meet him as a friend they would have to meditate for thousands of years and it would just take forever...

Thus, Vishnu takes 10 avatars, and in each avatar he kills both Jay and Vijay, whatever form they may be in.

I do not know who he kills during each avatar, but I will mention what I do know:

Match avatar: Madhu and Kaitab
Kashyap: Dunno
Vadhaa: Hiranyaksh (dunno about the other one)
Narsingh: Hiranyakashyap (dunno abt the other one)
Vaman: Bali (dunno abt other one)
Parshuram: Dunno (they were both Kshatriyas though, I know that)
Ram: Ravan and Kumbhkaran
Krishna: Kansa and Chanoor
Buddha: Dunno
Kalki: Dunno

Well, all I know is that in each avatar, Vishnu killed both Jay and Vijay, in some form.

If anyone has the remaining information, then please post it. I really want to know...

Originally posted by: akhl

Ravan, Kumbhkarn, and Vibhishan get boons from Brahma
Ravan's father Vishrava was a scholar. From him Ravan Got the knowledge of Vedas and many other kinds of knowledge. Vishrava wanted Ravan to live in peace with everyone. But Kaikasi was always provoking Ravan against Kuber.
Kuber was Ravan's step brother. But he loved Ravan, Kumbhkarn, Vibhishan and Chandranakha a lot.
One day Kuber came in his Pushpak viman(aircraft) to meet his father Vishrava. Kaikasi pointed the aircraft to Ravan and said, "Look what your step-brother Kuber has achieved. He has made his mother proud. But you have not done anything. I am ashamed of you."
Ravan promised his mother that he would excel Kuber. He decided to worship Lord Brahma. Kumbhkarn and Vibhishan also worshipped Brahma. The three brothers did very severe penance(tapasya). Ravan, one-by-one cut off his heads and offered them as an offering to Brahma. He cut nine of his heads. When he was about to cut his tenth and last head, then Brahma came and stopped him. Brahma restored all his heads and asked Ravan what he wanted.
Ravan asked for immortality. Brahma said, "I cannot give that to you." Ask for something else. Then Ravan said, "I should not be killed by gods, demons, gandharvas, yakshas, wild beasts. Give me supremacy over them." Ravan did not mention humans in his boon because he thought no human could ever kill him. He considered it against his self-respect to ask Brahma that he should not be killed by humans. Brahma granted him whatever boon he asked.

Brahma asked Vibhishan to seek a boon. Vibhishan said, "Even in great danger, may I never swerve from the path of righteousness. May I be illumined with the light of divine knowledge."
Brahma granted Vibhishan this boon and said, "Your mind is never inclined towards doing any bad deeds. Therefore, I grant you immortality."
As we can see, Brahma did not grant immortality to Ravan though Ravan asked for it. But he granted immortality to Vibhishan though Vibhishan did not ask for it. The reason is that Brahma knew it was not proper to give immortality to Ravan.
Next it was Kumbhkarn's turn to ask for a boon. Kumbhkarn was huge in size and had tremendous strength. He had the habit of killing humans and animals and eating them. The gods got afraid. They thought, "Kumbhkarn is already so powerful. He will be a great danger if he gets any more power from Lord Brahma." They requested Saraswati(goddess of speech) to do something. Saraswati casted an illusion on Kumbhkarn's mind so that he asked for lots of sleep. Brahma granted that. After that Kumbhkarn realized his mistake. But, it was too late now.
Ravan got a mansion built for Kumbhkarn so that Kumbhkarn could sleep there.

Just adding to this:

Kumbhkaran was going to ask Brahma for the Indrasan, meaning Indra's throne.

Indra got afraid and went to Saraswati...she said that she will sit on his tongue and have him say nindrasan instead of indrasan...

Nindrasan...is the throne of SLEEP...so he asked for it...and Brahma granted that to him...thus kumbhkaran had to sleep on Nidra's asan for 6 months...he only gets to wake up once in the six months...then he has to go back to sleep for the remainder 6 months...and so on..